Ukraine is firing 5,000 155mm artillery rounds a day. Its main supplier, the U.S., has donated one million rounds to date but, despite plans to triple production, still only produces around 14,000 rounds a month.
Canada is, as usual, a bystander to these tectonic shifts of geopolitics. In May, Wayne Eyre, the chief of the defense staff, called on defense companies to switch to a “war footing,” so that weapons production could be ramped up for Ukraine and to replenish domestic stocks. He did so knowing that industry won’t gear up unless it gets long-term contracts from Ottawa.
Yet seven months after Eyre’s call, there are no signs that Canada has contracted to receive many more artillery rounds than normal. The Department of National Defense said that GDOT-C produced 20,000 155mm to replenish stocks in 2022 and will deliver a further 8,000 rounds in 2023. That’s a good thing, but it’s hardly production on a “war footing.”
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